Thursday, December 1, 2011

A Grand Experiment

With all the hullabaloo at this time of year, and the pressure to achieve that “perfect Christmas”, I have decided to rebel. Buying presents, decorating the house, making goodies, and entertaining others are all good things, but sometimes my December “To Do” list can get very long…and stressful. And if you remember correctly, I am not getting stressed this year. So, here’s my rogue (that’s rogue—as in Sarah Palin, not rouge—as in color for my cheeks) plan: I have decided to write myself a “To Not Do” list. Nothing on this list is bad, but the experiences that I am choosing instead, like watching old family movies or reading Christmas stories to my kids, are better. In fact, this year, I’m going to bypass some really great things so that I have time to do the best things. Here goes:

TO NOT DO

I will not stress myself out to make Lefse. I will just go to Story City, where all Lefse-makers live, and buy it.

I will not worry about making the contents of the children’s stockings equal.

I will not host holiday parties when I don’t enjoy it.

I will not stay up all hours of the night creating something complex and homemade in my sewing room just so I can say “I made it.”

I will not force myself to put the decoration boxes in the storage room when no one can see them in the porch.

I will not feel compelled to write numerous blog posts explaining the true meaning of Christmas.

I will not write something personal on each and every Christmas card.

I will not feel compelled to send an extra Christmas card to those people to whom we didn’t send one when I get their card in the mail.

I will not feel compelled to have homemade peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses on top in my freezer.

I will not make a gingerbread house.

I will not use holiday placemats.

I will not go out and buy more Christmas paper if ours runs out. I will just use the ugly peach stuff I bought for the school fundraiser.

I will not clean my house every Monday if I want to do Christmas stuff.

I will not force my family to listen to “Read Aloud Family Christmas” every night after dinner.

I will not grieve that no one in my house wants to do the count-to-Christmas calendar anymore.

I will not force myself to learn Spanish or learn how to knit.

I will not get mad at myself if I want to sit in my polka-dotted chair and drink tea and read other people’s blogs.

I will not force my children or any other member of my family to unnecessarily clean their rooms, or their closets, or the kitchen, or the cat’s house, or the porch, or the garage. Even if I have company coming over who I don’t really need to impress with my immaculate cleanliness anyways.

Actually, Tess hacked my blog and wrote that last one, but I will abide by it.

Love this! And Tess' last one. haha. If you're dying to have some Christmas treat and don't want to make it --I would gladly let you sip tea in your polka dot chair and chat with me while I make it for you!